Ending Heavenly Host's Curse
by TheScorekeeper
Summary: Escaping the school, but leaving her best friend behind to the horrors, Aleria goes to SPR at the behest of a ghost to get help in finding Lee... And hopefully ending the curse on the school. Can SPR survive this case, and remove the curse? Can Aleria survive going to Heavenly Host twice?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 _ **Escaping the school**_

Running through the halls of the dilapidated building, I call out breathlessly for my friend.

"Lee! Where are you? Lee!?"

Stopping in front of what had to be the billionth fake window, I tried once more in vain to open it. The windows and doors leading out all had this strange effect. While they all looked like they would work like normal windows, none of them do. It's like they're painted on the walls. Even though I can see the perpetual rain splattering and sliding down the glass panes, the window is still as simple as a painting. One that can't be broken or removed.

I check my watch again, it has been spinning like crazy since the two of us got here, so I shouldn't have thought that it would be working now. I sigh, the time reads quarter past spinning. Time doesn't seem to have any meaning here either. I pull out my cell phone, the digital clock reads a solid 99:99 which is an impossible time, even on military standards.

A sound behind me makes me jump like a frightened rabbit. Everything here makes me scared, I clutch Lee's paper scrap in my hand, she's braver than I am. She'd know what to do in this situation. My own paper scrap was in a place of honour as a bookmark in the old copy of The Lord of the Rings I carried everywhere with me. The book itself was sitting in a purple bag I had gotten from my cousin on my last birthday.

No need to be scared, I thought to myself.

I turn slowly, a door that wasn't there before is now open. I superstitiously look around, I was sure when I passed that area, there wasn't a door there. But then again, last time I checked, I wasn't in a snuff film for crazy people. I just want to go home, or wake up. I've had some pretty scary dreams in the past, but if this was a dream, I'd be checking myself into Alberta Royal in the morning, because this was obviously the delusions of someone that would grow up to be a sociopath.

Figuring that it'd be safer to not dally in the hall, I slowly scurried into the room. Like many of the rooms in this place, this one was full of tiny desks. I was reminded of an elementary school. Luckily this one seemed thus far to not have a dead person in it. The reason Lee had run off was thanks in part to the last room. There was a newspaper on the floor and a corpse not far from that. I had read the paper just before hearing the door slam shut of its own accord. Looking at the dead person, we had found they had left the message ' _Whatever you do, don't read the newspaper_.'

We had of course panicked, the chalkboard at the front of the room filled with the words ' **LET ME OUT** ' and a soft sobbing sound had come from the corpse on the ground. Looking at the paper again, we had found that the previous story about some kids going missing had been erased leaving only the words 'You will never leave this room.' The door then as suddenly as it had closed, opened. Then Lee and I had the argument. She tossed her paper scrap at me and shouted that she wished she wasn't my friend, before running off. I had a feeling that these paper scraps were very important, so I kept Lee's and after I gathered my wits form crying after her hasty words, I tried to follow her.

Only, when I went to follow her… The door to the room with the newspaper was gone, the hallways had apparently changed too. I searched everywhere for something familiar, when I couldn't find it, I had started running, and calling out to Lee. My short and chubby frame hadn't gotten me very far, in fact I was probably only a few hallways from where Lee had stormed off. I couldn't find her though, no matter where I looked I had a feeling that it was unlikely that I would find her again, unless I found a way out of this mess.

A faint blue glow startled me out of my thoughts. This wasn't the first time I had come into contact with one of these blue glowing things. It still made me nervous, because where one of these was, there was usually a body. Walking over to it, I frowned to see that the body was very bleached. It was obviously quite an old death. The fresher corpses, were usually horrible to see. This one was slumped against the wall, looking like it had been placed there postmortem. Looking at the blue glow, I smiled at it.

"Hello?" I asked nervously.

"Don't look at me," It replied, flickering in front of its body, "please, don't look at me like this…"

"Alright," I answered, "Can you help me, please? I'm looking for my friend."

"You have changed nexus, your friend is not here…" the spirit answered.

"Hmm, well, can I somehow help you?" I asked simply.

"You would help a stranger?" it asked.

"Yes, I would," I answered, "what can I do?"

"I died alone. My friends all within separate nexuses. Eventually, we all died here. Feeling the pain we felt at death evermore. Why have you come here?"

"I wanted to be with Lee forever…" I answered sadly, remembering that I was soon mooing across the country.

"And you can, in death, be together forever in this hell…" it said sadly.

I sat on the ground in front of it. I didn't want to die, I defiantly didn't want Lee to die. This was my fault, I would have to fix it. How I didn't know. I shuffled around in my bag for my book.

"What is that?" the spirit asked curiously.

"My book," I answered, "It's The Lord of the Rings."

"Will you read it to me?" it asks, "I will help you if you help me with this…"

I have no clue how this long dead spirit is going to be able to help me. But if it can find Lee, or even get us out of this crazy place, then reading to it probably isn't going to hurt me in the slightest. Looking at the spirit, I smile, pulling the paper scrap bookmark out, opening the well used book to that page. I carefully place the paper scarp into another section of the book.

"Do you mind if I start from where I was?" I ask carefully.

"I don't mind anything anymore," the spirit answered, "Read from wherever you wish."

"Alright," I start clearing my throat, "This is in the first book, when Bilbo leaves the Shire to have a second adventure…

 _Roads go ever ever on,_  
 _Over rock and under tree,_  
 _By caves where never sun has shone,_  
 _By streams that never find the sea;_  
 _Over snow by winter sown,_  
 _And through the merry flowers of June,_  
 _Over grass and over stone,_  
 _And under mountains in the moon._

 _Roads go ever ever on,_  
 _Under cloud and under star._  
 _Yet feet that wandering have gone_  
 _Turn at last to home afar._  
 _Eyes that fire and sword have seen,_  
 _And horror in the halls of stone_  
 _Look at last on meadows green,_  
 _And trees and hills they long have known._

 _The road goes ever on and on_  
 _Down from the door where it began._  
 _Now far ahead the toad has gone,_  
 _And I must follow, if I can,_  
 _Pursuing it with eager feet,_  
 _Until it joins some larger way,_  
 _Where many paths and errands meet._

 _The road goes ever on and on_  
 _Down from the door where it began._  
 _Now far ahead the road has gone,_  
 _And I must follow, if I can,_  
 _Pursuing it with weary feet,_  
 _Until it joins some larger way,_  
 _Where many paths and errands meet._  
 _And whither then? I cannot say._

 _The road goes ever on and on_  
 _Out from the door where it began._  
 _Now far ahead the road has gone._  
 _Let the others follow, if they can!_  
 _Let them a journey new begin._  
 _But I at last with weary feet_  
 _Will turn towards the lighted inn,_  
 _My evening-rest and sleep to meet_."

I pause here, because the spirit has done something unexpected. It has gone from the color blue, to the soft color yellow, bathing the area around us in a soft light. I see now that it is the spirit of a girl around my age. She is smiling at me.

"Thank you," she says softly, "Now to help you."

The area around us shakes, the girl's spirit fights the darkness that is trying to take hold of us once more. Her spirit enters my body, and everything goes dark.

When I wake, I find that I am in my room. But I am not alone, the girl's yellow spirit is there too.

"Where's Lee?" I ask her.

"I could only get one out, give me your paper scrap, it's of no use to you now," she says holding out her hand for the scrap, "keep your friend's I feel that you intend to go back and find her."

I had the spirit the scrap of paper, it burns in her hand, the ashes landing on my cot's bed.

"How can I save Lee?" I ask.

"You'll need help," she answers, "and even then only an idiot would bank everything on the hope that they would listen to you and help you… Or the rest of the spirits trapped there."

"Tell me," I order, before adding a soft, "please."

"You need to go to Japan. In Shibuya, you will find a two story cafe called ' _Rue Favart_ '," she pauses and I take the pause to find a pen and a piece of paper to jot down the notes, "on the second floor of the cafe is a place called Shibuya Psychic Research. Explain to them and hope, but know that they may just leave your friend to die in Heavenly Host. If they go with you and get separated, only you will be able to travel through the separate nexuses now that you have left the school once. But it will drain you to do so, and leave the other person venerable."

"What about you?" I ask, noting that she's fading.

"I will crossover from here," she answered smiling at me, "thank you for saving me from there… Thank you so much."

"What's your name?" I ask, curious.

"Sayaka Ooue," she answers, "I went into the school with my best friend Naho Saenoki… If you find Naho in the school… Tell her I forgive her…. And," she adds softly, "If you find a boy named Haruyuki Inumaru… Tell him I'm waiting on the other side for him."

"Will I ever see you again Sayaka?"

"No…" she answers, "Once I crossover, I don't want to come back…"

"Alright," I say nodding my head, "Naho Saenoki and Haruyuki Inumaru… Got it… If I find them, I'll give them your messages, I promise."

"Thank you…"

And with that; Sayaka Ooue fades, and I faint onto my bed. Asleep before my head hits the pillow.

* * *

This was originally StillCaresAboutNerding's and the first Ghost Hunt and Corpse Party Fic. Alice deleted it and asked me to take over for her, so don't bother telling me I stole it, the only thing changed other than spelling and grammar fixes she hadn't noticed is the names... And I had permission to do that.

-TheAleriaVoguel


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _ **Finding SPR**_

"Absolutely not Aleria," my aunt admonishes.

"But Lee is trapped there!" I shout back at my aunt.

"Who exactly is Lee?" she asks coldly.

"You know who she is!" I shout.

"No I don't," she answers.

My uncle takes this time to pipe up what they've been trying to tell me all morning. That I must have had a dream. That Lee isn't real. But my notes are real, and a quick Google search told me that the cafe Sayaka mentioned before fading is real too.

"There was no one with you in the basement last night Aleria," my uncle says quietly. I know that out of the two of them, he believes me more, but the fact is that Lee apparently doesn't exist.

"You've lived here for three years Aleria, tonight you're getting on that plane to Nova Scotia and that is finial." my aunt says with the cold tone of finality, before going to her room and slamming her door.

I look at my uncle, if anyone can talk sense into my aunt it's him. This time though, he just shakes his head sadly.

"Aleria, it must have been a nightmare. Lord knows you get them every night," he says quietly.

"But I just know this wasn't a dream," I plead.

"Look… There's supposed to be a flight change right?" he asks quietly.

"Yeaaaa, I get off 261 in Toronto and walk to 784 going to Halifax…" I say not understanding him.

"You have money for a plane ticket and then some, right?" he asks.

"Yea, my taxes came in… And there's my money from work," I say.

"Well, if you were to… Say," he starts, "Miss your flight… You'd probably have to get on another… Once you're in Toronto, anything can happen really," he says.

"Yea, but I would only have whatever luggage I carried on with me," I said finally getting where my uncle was going with this.

"Pack a few days worth of clothes in your carry-on… Your purse doesn't count after all," he finishes sitting in his leather chair with his newspaper. As if the conversation never happened.

"I thought you were on Auntie's team of not believing me?" I ask.

"Oh, I am," he answers quickly, "I'm just telling you what I would do… But Aleria," he starts, "Be sure you know what you're doing… Getting lost in Japan is the last thing you want to do, you'd never find your way home from there."

"Noted," I say nodding and pulling out my laptop, "I'm going to try and book a motel in Shibuya… Is that OK?"

"Go ahead, remember if you need to make any calls to keep them quiet. Your aunt has the ears of a rabbit sometimes."

With that I booted up the laptop and quickly went to Google typing in the search, 'Hotels in Shibuya'. I quickly found quite a few and through I was able to pin down a good one near the cafe ' _Rue Favart_ ' the hotel's name was _'Shibuya Creston Hotel'_ this would no doubt be written in kanji and I would need to bring a translator with me. Nodding to my uncle after booking a room there, I headed to the basement and shoved five sets of clothes into my **CANADA** bag. Along with shoving various niceties I'd probably need once I was in Shibuya.

I couldn't risk exchanging my money until I was in Japan, so I put my credit card and debit card in the forefront of my wallet. I shoved Lee's paper scrap into my copy of Lord of the Rings, and hurried back upstairs to grab both the phone and my laptop, before running back downstairs. Looking up the business SPR was a little harder than finding a hotel, but once I had the number I breathed a sigh of relief. I then looked at the clock, and sighed once more but this time in aggravation. I could hope someone was still in the office, but it was pretty late in Japan at the moment.

Steeling myself, I dialed the number. On the fourth ring, someone picked up.

"Shibuya Psychic Research, how can we help you?" came a deep voice in Japanese.

"Uh.." I started lamely, startled that I had reached someone, quickly translating what he had said and translating a reply I hurriedly squeaked out, "I'm sorry for calling so late, do you have anyone there that speaks English? My Japanese isn't very good."

"I speak English," the deep voice answered without an accent, "where are you calling from?"

"Canada," I answer quickly, "I am planning on coming to Shibuya to present you with a case… I can't talk about it over the phone though, someone may be listening… And I'm afraid she'll try to stop me."

"Very well," he answered, "My name is Koujo Lin, when can we be expecting you?"

"Hopefully on the next flight from Toronto," I answer, "I'm not going to lie to you sir… I'm terrified. You probably wouldn't believe me, but, a ghost told me to take this to you."

"A ghost?" he said sounding interested.

"Yes, and now my best friend is missing and everyone is acting like she never existed."

"What is your name?"

"Aleria Voguel," I answer quickly, "I'll be staying at Shibuya Creston Hotel if everything goes smoothly."

"That isn't far from our offices."

"Sayaka told me there is a cafe below you," I say quietly, hearing my cousin shuffle about in his room.

"Sayaka?" Koujo asks.

"The ghost," I answer, "Her name was Sayaka Ooue. She crossover last night."

"I will look into her name," he said, " do you-"

"I have to go," I said, interrupting him, "My cousin's leaving his room. I'll give you a quick description of myself. I'm short, I have blue eyes, ash blonde hair, I'll be wearing blue jeans a black t-shirt with a white ankh on it, and a black leather jacket that has a hood. My backpack is bright red and says 'Canada' in bold letters, and I'll have a purple purse with me."

"Understood," Koujo answers, probably taking note on the other side, "And Miss Voguel?"

"Yes?" I ask nervously.

"Good luck."

With that Koujo Lin hung up the phone on his end. I look at the phone on my end and wonder just what I've gotten myself into. It was then that I felt a strange presence in the basement. Almost like I was being watched by some unseen force. I looked to my cousin's door and waited for him and whatever he was about to say to me.

 _ **Meanwhile, in Japan**_

 _That has to be the strangest call we've gotten all day_ , the Chinese man thinks to himself.

Quickly, he takes notes on the conversation he had just had with the strange woman on the other side of the planet. Once finished, he grabbed his notes and walked to his young charge's office.

"Enter," came the voice of the young man from the other side.

"Noll, I think you should hear this," he said, handing over his notes.

"There isn't a lot to go on here, Lin," he said quietly, "How are we even sure she was telling the truth?"

"I have one of my shiki following her," he answered.

"How were you able to get a shiki that far away from you? Through the phone?"

"Yes, though he was reluctant to leave. He'll just make sure she gets on the plane to Japan. After that, he'll probably return… Or wait with her until she gets here. Either way, he'll be able to tell me what's going on."

"Do you think we have a case?"

"It's hard to tell at this point," Koujo answered rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "At any rate we should probably contact the others and tell them within the next few days they may or may not have to be here for work."

"Fair enough, this name though Sayaka Ooue, I want you to start looking it up. As well as Miss Voguel, try to find out what you can about our possible client. Though, I think your shiki will suffice to do," Noll said quickly dispensing the Chinese man with orders.

"Very well," He replied, and with that, the Chinese man left his boss' office, and began his research.

 _ **Back in Canada**_

"Ya know Aleria," my cousin started, giving me a look, "If you wanted to run away to Japan you could have gone already."

"It's not that I want to run away to Japan," I answered exasperated with him already, "it's that this is the right thing. Sayaka Ooue is counting on me."

"Who is that?"

"I don't know," I answer truthfully.

"Still, you hardly have to lie Aleria… I know that with the inheritance your dad left you you've been itching to go somewhere on your own. Do you even have a passport?"

"Yea, remember that trip to Germany that got kicked in the head from dad dying?" I ask.

"Yes, I remember… You were pretty devastated that you didn't get to go."

"I had a passport at the time, I needed one back then," I answer.

"Is it still valid?"

"Uh," I say, digging the passport out of my purse, "yes… but barely."

"How barely are we talking here?" my cousin asks.

"It's due in the new year."

"So in about seven months?" he asks.

"Yep." I reply counting the months off in my head. I shiver as I feel something brush against my bare arms. Looking down, there's nothing there… I take last night's adventure into a haunted school into the factors and think that it must be some residual stuff.

"Who's this Lee you were yelling with mom about by the way? She hot?"

I blush angrily at my cousin, "She's my best friend you jerk! And I think she's very pretty. You once described her as the Night to my Day. I told you that it was the opposite, that I was Night and she was Day."

"I don't remember that conversation." he admits, "but I'm not gonna argue if you're nuts… We both know I think you flew the coo-coo's nest a long time ago."

"Well, I'm doing it." I reply smartly.

"I know," he paused before continuing, "you'll need more money than what you've got though.. I'll loan you some. You have to pay it back though, understand? With interest."

"T-TJ… What would Auntie say?"

"I already heard what she said," TJ answers, "but I know you wouldn't make this kind of crap up. It's not like you to lie."

I could feel tears welling in my eyes, before I could start crying though, TJ put his hands up to stop me.

"Quit with the waterworks Aleria! Tell ya what, if you don't cry.. You don't have to pay interest on the money you don't use?"

"O-okay," I say sniffling.

"Good. Now give me a second," he says, "Gotta go to the bank. I'll transfer it into Yen for you so you'll at least have enough before leaving to get where you're planning on going."

"Alright," I say, "Thank you TJ."

"Don't mention it," he smiles, "Seriously don't. One; Mom would kill us both. And Two; I don't need people thinking I'm a giant SAP."

With that, TJ scurried into his room, shuffling into shoes and a jacket. With keys in hand he walked up the stairs. I heard the front door open and close softly. Why two of the men in my aunts house were disobeying her, I don't think I wanted to know. Usually when she said no, the rest of the household had better listen to her and her iron fist. I went towards my CANADA bag again and sorted the clothes out a little better, adding a couple more outfits. Setting aside the outfit I had told Koujo Lin I would be wearing I waited, fiddling with Lee's paper scrap.

It wasn't long until TJ came back. He silently handed me a large amount of Japanese money.

"Holy crap TJ, how much are you giving me here?" I ask not sure about taking this.

"Only a thousand Canadian," he answered as if I was asking him how the weather was, "All together it made ninety-three thousand and one yen. Oh," he paused and handed me a hundred yen coin, "they gave me an extra hundred yen because eighty cents didn't translate well enough for them. I was able to sweet talk them," he finished winking.

"… Just what exactly am I supposed to do with ninety-three thousand Yen?" I ask.

"Rent a Zoo?" he asked blinking at me, "The yen isn't doing very well. Japan isn't exactly a country with a lot of gold… Now if it were Rupees, well… You do the math, fifty-six point forty-two rupees to one Canadian dollar. Apparently the Yen is doing far better than I thought," he said suddenly, "Because that would be one dollar to ninety-three yen… Hmm"

I decided now would be a good time to derail his train of thought, "So you're saying I've got more than enough before I even exchange my money over, right?"

"Pretty much yes."

"Alright, thank you TJ… I'll make sure to pay it all back in full… Plus interest on whatever I actually use," I finished smiling remembering his situation.

"Eh," he started, scratching his stubble, "you're my only female cousin… And you're not totally nuts. So long as you hand me a thousand I can wave the interest."

I stood up and hugged TJ.

"You're the best cousin ever!" I shouted, before stopping myself and getting control of my volume, "err…. Best to not wake up your mom and put this away while I still have the chance."

I hurriedly shoved half of the money into a hidden pocket, the other half went into my wallet. I looked at TJ, he was dressed as he usually was. Like a person that had just rolled into what they were wearing. He stared down at me, before giving me a one-armed hug.

"I'm gonna miss you," he said, "It's been a fun three years, it'll be pretty empty without your antics."

"I guess," I answer, "I'll miss you and annoying you with my ever present wishing your safety."

"That," TJ started, "I won't miss. Now go get dressed, you can't get on a plane in your jammies, you aren't six."

"True," I say looking down at the pajamas I don't remember getting into, "Well then you'll just have to excuse me TJ. I need a shower too… That school was gross."

"Shower away," he said letting go of me, "Just e-mail the funds back to me when you can. I know you will."

With that TJ shuffled back into his room, shutting the door softly behind him. I gathered the jeans and ankh t-shirt, heading to the bathroom. Turning on the hot water, I quickly stripped myself of the pajamas and hopped into the hot shower. Scrubbing myself, I managed to get the feeling of grossness that was the school off me, but I could still feel that something was watching me.

I quickly turned around and gasped, behind me was a little girl. She had long black hair and was wearing a red dress. She was smiling up at me. Terrified, I closed my eyes hoping she would go away.

"Heyyyyy," came the girl's syrupy voice in Japanese, "Lady, you know it isn't polite to leave a person's house without introducing yourself to the host, right?"

"I'm sorry," I stammered out in Japanese, "My Japanese is bad… What did you say?"

A white light caused the little girl to shriek. I fell back in the tub, landing flat on my butt, but luckily not hitting my head on anything. Whatever the white light was, it got rid of the little girl. The light disappeared with her, I felt her presence leave, but I could still feel that I was being watched. I turned the shower off, toweled off and got dressed quicker than I ever had in my life. I then left the bathroom and sat on the cot that had been my bed for the last three years. Looking across the room, I saw that Lee's DS was still plugged into the wall, as well as her PSVita. My own PSVita and DS were sitting in their usual spots; plugged into the wall closest to the cot. Hell, her phone was even there.

I quickly packed her electronics into my CANADA bag, stuffing them to the bottom. On the off chance when we got out of the school, she was where I was, I would have the funds and ability to get her and myself home. I then made the decision that if I couldn't save Lee, I would either stay in the school, or stay in Japan.

I can only hope that Shibuya Psychic Research will take my case… And that we all leave the school unscratched.

Oh Lee… What am I going to do? How am I going to save you?

What have I done?

* * *

And that's Chapter 2.

-TheAleriaVoguel


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 _ **Whoops, Wrong plane.**_

As the day passed, I slowly got from being depressed and worrying about Lee. I moved from there, to my 'extreme planning' mode. I needed to find a plan, sure, getting off flight 261 was the easy part. The hard part would be actually forcing myself to miss the 784 plane. Even knowing how planes worked and that I could very well accomplish this without to much effort, I was still pretty worried.

My aunt would never forgive me, and would probably know the second either I called her to say I had missed my flight, or my mother called to say that I never showed up with the other passengers; that I had probably missed it on purpose. She had been my mother figure for the last three years, she knew me better than I knew myself sometimes. The good thing about her being my aunt and not my mother was that I could probably claw my way out of the relationship with only a few minor injuries to my own heart. Who am I kidding? Losing her would probably hurt as much as losing my dad had hurt. Only the void that was my dad can never be filled again, while my actual mom was alive and well.

That was another thing, my mother would be livid. I could pretty much escape that pile of anger, -that honestly would be well deserved- that was my mother. I was so many colors of screwed, both my aunt and mother would probably never trust me fully again. I quickly sent my mom a text saying that I had a funny feeling about the plane being late, and left it at that. Knowing my aunt, she probably thought that now I had had a stern talking to I would forget this nonsense. Not bloody likely, but at least I had given my mother a little bit of warning.

I wonder if cell phones work in Heavenly Host... Probably not, I thought to myself.

I thought back to the man that had answered the phone in Japan, he was certainly either an early riser, a workaholic, or maybe just really dedicated to the job. He had spoken in English without the usual Japanese accent, which only made me wonder if he was from an English-speaking country. None of my business, but, I was curious nonetheless. What kind of people are these? Until last night, while I believed in ghosts and things that modern science couldn't explain, I was a little skeptical.

Pulling the laptop onto the cot with me, I did a few quick searches. They came up pretty inconclusive, not that I had thought they would. I went to the blog I had first found the charm that had gotten Lee and me into this mess. I translated the page, and paused, looking at the name of the person's blog, and the date it had been last logged into. Naho Saenoki, she had posted this blog five years ago, and never logged in again. I got a cold feeling in my stomach, Sayaka had told me Naho was her best friend. Could they have gone missing in Japan five years ago?

Using Google, I looked up Japan's list of missing persons for the last ten years. Figuring that the internet could get something wrong at anytime. Neither Naho or Sayaka's names came up. I broadened my search to twenty years ago, before I was born. Still not finding anything, I looked up schools that had closed in Japan during the 1970's. There was only one; Heavenly Host Elementary. A chill worked its way down my spine and the feeling of being watched increased. The school's closure was due to a group of kidnappings, that had ended when the police found three of the four missing children dead, and one survivor. The article said that the school had been torn down soon after the headmaster killed himself, his son had been the murderer.

Feeling that reading anymore of this was going to make me sick, I closed the window and shut the laptop down. No doubt Shibuya Psychic Research was already looking into Heavenly Host. Whatever was watching me made its way upstairs, probably to go watch the other people in the house. Looking at the time, I figured that I would probably need to get my stuff together like yesterday. I gathered my things and looked over at my uncle's translator. It was technically DND property, he could get into trouble for losing it, and I could get into trouble for having it. I looked around the room that had been home for three years, steeled my nerves, and shoved the translator to the bottom of my bag.

Sorry Uncle, I thought sadly, I promise to return it when I can.

The drive to the airport was a long and boring one, I mostly listened to music beside my aunt. I had apologized for the morning and she had forgiven me. For once, she didn't suspect a thing. Whatever had been tailing me at home was tailing me in the van. I figured after the incident in the shower, that whatever it was probably wasn't there to hurt me. At least not yet. Once we got to the airport, we unpacked my three bags. I shuffled my CANADA bag onto my shoulders and grabbed my purse, my aunt grabbed the only other bag there.

We loaded the blue bag that had held all my worldly possessions for the last three years, and I almost felt sad. My aunt at least, would never have to tell me to sort my bag out again. My purse had all the numbers to where I would need to call once I got to Tokyo. I would probably try to see if there was a kindly Japanese person that could point me on the way to Shibuya district. Knowing what I know of Japan, it shouldn't be too hard once they see the bright red backpack, stating my Non-American self to the world, plus I'll be as polite as I can be.

Looking over at the docking schedule, I smiled when I saw that my second flight 784, was currently canceled, but that my first flight; 261 was right on target.

"Well," my aunt started, "You might have to stay in Toronto for a night Aleria."

"It's okay," I say quickly, "I have the funds if I need to check into a motel."

"Mm hmm," she said, nodding at me, "I'll call your mother and let her know your plane from Toronto was canceled and that you'll be on whichever plane is next on the list."

A stroke of unexpected luck. It'd be easy to just go to the ticket master and get a different ticket. Nodding at my aunt in thanks I awkwardly stood there, staring at her to memorize her face.

"Well," I started, "I guess this is until next time."

"Until next time," she said turning and leaving for her van.

We never said goodbye. Goodbyes were forever, I hadn't said goodbye since my dad had died, to anyone. Lee had gotten used to my odd way of saying farewell in stride. I looked at the terminal, steeled my plan and left.

Sitting on the 261 flight to Toronto, I couldn't help but feel nervous. What I was going to do in the city, was cemented in my mind. Luckily, nothing had been confiscated from either bag. I still had Lee and my electronics, as well as my uncle's translator. My blue bag would get transported to Toronto, and probably moved onto the next flight to Nova Scotia. I didn't really care, I'd miss the things in it, but if my luck held out, I would be able to get to Nova Scotia eventually.

The plane took off at that point. I put my headphones on; once my ears had popped with the dropped pressure, and put on the soundtrack music Lee had insisted I put on my iPod. At least I had this small comfort, the music made me think of Lee though, and those thoughts were almost unwelcome. The worry of what was going on in that school would probably bother me until I found her. I needed to hurry though, she could get hurt. Or worse.

The next four hours were filled with boredom, the nearly empty plane was filled with people sleeping. While I felt tired myself, I really didn't need to get booted off the plane if I started having a nightmare. Do planes even do that? I have no idea, but I don't want to find out. Disturbing the peace of the plane while I was sleeping wasn't on my To-Do list. Still, even as I thought this, my eye lids felt heavy. I couldn't fight sleep for long, the stress of the last couple day got to me, I slumped comfortably in the chair, and fell asleep.

What seemed like a second later, I was being shaken.

"Miss? Miss?" The voice called.

I jolted up, looking around frantically. Seeing that it was the flight attendant, I slumped back into my chair. Looking out the window, I was rather sheepish to realize that we had landed. The flight attendant, a pilot and myself were the only people on the plane.

"Sorry," I say sheepish, "I must have dozed off."

"I'll say," the attendant smiled, chuckling at my expense.

"When did we land?"

"About five minutes ago," the pilot laughed.

"Ah Jericho," the attendant started, "she's not the first person to fall asleep with you flying, you make landings pretty soft too."

"Actually, I really enjoyed the flight," I said yawning, "you're an excellent pilot."

"Well, thank you," he said, "say you heading anywhere after this?"

"Japan," I answer, "I just have to get the ticket and go through customs."

"Japan, eh?" the attendant asked, when I nodded he continued, "Jericho's flying there in a couple hours, with a little help, we could probably get you on that flight..."

"Really?" I asked, "what about customs?"

"You go through customs when you're heading out of a country," Jericho answered, grabbing his backpack, "let's go I guess, the plane can't take off without the pilot after all."

Where the hell is all this luck coming from? I thought to myself, Knowing karma, it'll eventually bite me in the ass, so I better be careful.

Following the attendant, -who's name I learned was Thomas- and Jericho, I was able to secure myself onto their next flight. The ticket master was probably hoping that this would be the last weird thing she did that day. She was shaking her head at the three of us as we went off to get me and my carry-on checked out. The security stopped me at the metal detectors and looked at Jericho and Thomas like they were planning something.

"If I could get my purse, I'll show you it's just some plating in my upper and lower jaw," I say to the man holding the wand.

He still checked me over with the wand, when it showed that the only thing metallic it was picking up was around my head, he had me untie my hair. He then tried again, it still went off, but he couldn't tell where the beep was coming from on my head this time. He nodded and Jericho handed me my purse. I quickly dug through it, and handed the guard my surgeon's note.

"I have a copy of my X-rays somewhere too probably," I said starting to dig again.

"That won't be necessary miss," he smiled and, handing me back the note he waved us off to see the next couple.

Because I was with the pilot and an attendant, I was one of the first people sitting on the plane. I shoved my bags into the overhead compartment, and offered to help Thomas.

"Thanks," he said, handing me the snack trolley, "just take this to the back of the plane, please."

I quickly did as he asked, when I went back, he was pulling blankets from a wall. The blankets he took out of the wall, he then shoved into a warmer. No doubt the flight would last a good portion of the remaining night.

"How long is the flight?" I asked.

"On a clear night?" He started thinking, "thirteen hours, and twenty-three minutes."

"Huh," I said helping him with the blankets, "well, it's already tomorrow today, so what's another thirteen hour time jump?" I asked wearily.

"Haha," Thomas grinned, "more like fifteen hour time jump. Japan is close to fifteen hours ahead of Alberta!"

"Kill me now," I said exasperated.

"Pff n'aw you're too cute to kill," he smiled at me, "you should probably head to your seat now though, I can hear the heels of the other flight attendants."

I nodded and hurriedly took a seat. I pulled out my mobile phone and debated calling Shibuya Psychic Research. I sent a text to my aunt that the flight to Nova Scotia had been canceled because of weather, and it looked like I'd be in Toronto for a few days tops. This lie would give me a little time. I then shuffled my purse around, and found Shibuya Psychic Research's number. This time the phone picked up on the first ring.

"Shibuya Psychic Research, Taniyama-san talking, how can we help you?"

I blinked, this was a young girl's voice. Probably younger than me.

"Mai! Tea!" I heard from the other side of the line, "Lin, take the call please!"

"How can we help you?" came the voice of the same man I had talked to last time.

"Ah!" I started, "Koujo Lin, I was calling to let you know I'm on the next flight to Japan. I'll be in Tokyo in around thirteen hours, give or take with the weather," I said quickly in English, watching the new flight attendants flirt with Thomas, who was taking it like a champ.

"Very well," he said before a high pitched shriek filled the phone, static was then heard for a moment. Strangely enough, I couldn't feel whatever had been watching me anymore.

"What was that?" I asked looking at the phone.

"Our part-time employee," he said with a sigh, "our boss probably made some remark about her studies."

"Weird," I say without thinking, "I mean... It's just strange is all, that you have a part-timer... Then again, different country, different ways. I'm so not prepared for culture shock," I finish laughing at myself.

"No one ever is," he paused, thinking, "we'll have someone pick you up at the airport... You said you had a bright red bag?"

"Yea, I'll probably stand out," the plane started filling with passengers, "I think I might be the only person whiter than the driven snow on the plane as well..."

I heard a chuckle from his end of the phone, "we'll find you Miss Voguel, just stay put when you walk out of the receiving bay doors, alright?"

"Alright," I reply, "gotta hang up the flight attendant is getting ready to make rounds."

"Have a safe flight, I highly suggest trying to sleep," he said before hanging up on me.

"Hey Aleria," Thomas said from my side, surprising me.

"Turning it off now," I said, powering down the phone.

"Hmm? Oh that," he said distracted, "actually I just wanted to let you know you're the lucky person with three seats to themselves."

He handed me a couple blankets and a pillow. I quickly made myself a makeshift bed and buckled up.

"Thanks," I said looking at him.

I noticed his distraction, he wasn't staring at the pretty flight attendant. Actually, if I could pinpoint where he was looking I'd say it was through the door to the pilot's area. So, he had a crush and didn't know what to do.

"Did you tell him?" I asked quietly.

He jumped as if I had electrocuted him, "What?"

"Did you tell him?" I repeated.

"Y-yea awhile ago," he said.

"And?"

"He doesn't go for first timers that don't know what they want," Thomas explained.

"Huh?"

"Long story short, up until I met Jericho, I was a bit of a ladies man," he answered,

"the confusion I had felt at the time I met him was insane."

"Has he given you a chance?" I asked, wanting this to have a happy ending.

"He will be," Thomas answered, determined, "In Japan, I'm rooming with him until the next flight."

I nodded, "Good luck Thomas."

The Japanese couple behind us were taking pictures on the plane. Thomas stood up, smiled down at me and turned to them.

"Come on you two, you've seen a cute blonde girl before right? I'm sure Aleria doesn't like you taking pictures of her," he lectured the older couple smiling, ever the fool.

They said something in Japanese I didn't understand, and Thomas used a smattering of words to reply.

"What?" I ask, awkwardly.

"Ah the Kasai dialect," Thomas smiled, hooking an arm around my shoulders, "tis a thing of beauty... Not really though. Don't learn the Kasai dialect, people on Japan's main island won't understand you"

With that, he swiftly gave my forehead a kiss, which got the older couple all a flutter, taking even more pictures. I blushed, no wonder Jericho said Thomas didn't know what he wanted. The man could go either way really, and still get what he wanted from either gender. Thomas spoke to the couple again, and this time they put away the cameras. He then left me to complete his rounds. As he was passing me to get to the front of the plane once more, he passed me a note.

 _'Sorry, they wanted a couple pictures of a cute couple. -Thomas.'_

He smiled and winked at me from the front of the plane. The couple behind me, tittered in their dialect. I groaned softly and listened to the female attendant go through the motions of what to do in an aerial emergency. She moved from Canadian French to Japanese, probably because that was where we were headed... Heck I'm pretty sure if it hadn't been for me, the only other white person on the plane, she would have just spoken in Japanese.

Jericho's voice then sounded from above in English. The French and Japanese were spoken by a translator, probably a lot like the one I had in the bottom of my back pack. The flight then started rolling, I looked back at the terminal and sighed.

I hope I can come back here someday, I thought to myself.

 _ **In Japan**_

"Naru," the Chinese man called. He had just hung up on their possible client.

His shiki had come through the phone and explained what he had seen and heard. They could very well have a case. He opened up his laptop and took notes on what his shiki had told him. His young boss and ward then came up from behind him, leaning on his desk in that way the Chinese man detested.

"What's wrong?" He asked, "who was calling? Wait... Why are you looking up flight numbers?"

"Miss Voguel is on the next plane from Toronto, Canada," he explained, in English,

"someone should pick her up, I think we have a case."

"Did your shiki come back?" His boss asked, narrowing his eyes in thought.

"Yes, and he wasn't the only one following her," Koujo replied.

"Any danger to the team?" He asked.

"Nothing like Urado, I don't think," he deadpanned.

"When does the flight get in?"

"In thirteen hours, depending on weather."

"Alright," Naru said nodding, "I want you and John Brown to go pick her up."

It was then that their young part-timer came into the office.

"Anyone want tea?" She asked.

She was asking more for Koujo, who nodded. Naru nodded to the two of them and swept himself out of the office.

 _Well Miss Voguel_ , he thought, _Just what will you be bringing with you to Japan?_

* * *

-TheScorekeeper


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 _ **Bad Dreams**_

I was trapped. Back in the school, with a man I had never seen before. I had a scrap of paper in my hand, we must have gone into Heavenly Host. But where were the others? Wait, what others? I looked around at the room we were in. It was the same classroom that Sayaka had died in. I walked to the far end of the room, and noticed that, her corpse wasn't the bleached bones I remember seeing. She looked like she had died pretty recently. I also noted that she wasn't propped up like last time I had seen her. She was currently slumped on the floor.

"Koujo!" I shouted, "It's Sayaka!"

Putting my hand to hers, I realized it was too late to save her life. Rigor mortise had set in. My limited knowledge of Forensic Science told me that her body had left life, probably a couple hours ago. I sighed, she was so pretty. Whoever Naho was, I hope she was sorry, because she would have the blood of her best friend on her hands forever. The stain of death wouldn't leave her.

"How can you be so calm around all these corpses?" Koujo asked me.

"Sayaka isn't the first corpse I've seen," I said, "when you're around death... You get desensitized I guess."

I felt the room start to shake.

"Another earthquake!?" I shouted scared.

"No, it's time for you to wake up," a voice called.

"What?" I asked blinking.

I was on the plane again. Thomas had woken me up.

"Sorry," he said, "you were making a lot of noise in your sleep... Sounded like a bad nightmare."

"S-sorry," I said blushing, "they didn't take any pictures of me, did they?" I ask pointing to the sleeping couple.

"N'aw," Thomas answered, "well okay, one... But you were so cute. I took a picture too."

"You took a picture of me sleeping?" I asked, looking at him like he had recently grown an extra head.

"Eh couldn't resist," he said sheepishly, "I just take them every now and again. Didn't want to forget your face if I see you again."

"Considering you're wanting to be with the pilot, you can keep it I guess," I sighed, flopping back against the chairs, "how much longer until we're in Tokyo?"

"About two hours," he said, "we slipped into a bit of turbulence, Jericho was able to keep everything pretty steady... You slept right through it."

"The man deserves an award," I say throwing my hands up, "how I slept through that I'll never know."

"He's just that good," Thomas replied cheekily.

I shuffled around in my purse, finding my travel hair brush, I quickly brushed the mess of hair. If I only had two hours, I would need to hurry. How I had slept for eleven, made me wonder just what I was dreaming about. The memory was pretty fuzzy. I remember being in the school and finding Sayaka, but that was about it. I had a funny feeling that it wasn't just a dream, only time would answer that question, and I didn't want to entertain the thought of finding a cold, but somewhat fresh corpse.

Thomas left me to my female primping. Rolling his eyes he went to the back and came back a few minutes later with a cup in his hand. Coffee from the looks of it. He held it out to me, and I timidly and drank from it.

"Damn you're trusting," he said looking at me.

"This isn't coffee," I said looking at the cup.

"Uh, no... It's chai tea... Can't you smell it?"

"My sense of smell was knocked out after jaw surgery," I answered.

"Oh," he said awkwardly, "sorry, I didn't know..."

I waved my hand, "I don't tell people. It's really weird, and people don't generally understand it."

"I'll say," he laughed.

"Pfff I've never been one for getting offended anyways," I said, smiling at him.

The lights in the cabin suddenly turned on, it was late in this part of the world now... In Canada, it was probably around midday... At least that's what it felt like. The Japanese people returning to their home country slowly woke up, blinking at the lights. Jericho's voice sounded from the front of the plane. He quickly apologized in English, -which was translated into Japanese- for the lights suddenly turning on, but that it would soon be time to land, and so passengers should turn their seats to the proper orientation and prepare for landing in Tokyo's airport.

Thomas grinned at me, and left me with the tea. I fixed my seat and buckled in, turning I folded the blankets I had used while sleeping. Putting my brush back into my purse I zipped it up just as the landing gears engaged and the plane started its decent. Going through the usual motions of the plane, it glided and finally touched down on the runway. I was in Japan now, I had disobeyed my aunt and mother.

There was going to be hell to pay when I got back to Canadian soil.

Making a face at that thought, I stood when Jericho said it was okay to leave the plane. I waited for the others to leave the plane before grabbing my red CANADA bag out of the overhead. As I passed Thomas, I patted him on the shoulder and wished him good luck. Jericho, who was shaking hands with all the leaving passengers, looked over at us. I smiled at him walking over and taking his hand.

"Thank you so much," I started, "it was an honour meeting you and Thomas," I then added, "go for it. He knows what he wants."

And with that left.

Once through the doors of the terminal, I paused, looking left and right.

Two men, the shorter of which was holding a sign were staring at me. I slowly walked towards the two of them. The shorter one was blonde, and was surprisingly -to me at least- not Asian. The taller man was out of place himself, while he certainly looked Asian, he seemed different. The shorter one smiled, before calling out to me.

"Good day, Miss Voguel!" He had an Australian accent. I decided then, that he could talk forever and I wouldn't get tired of his voice.

"Uh, hello," I said shakily, clutching my backpack's strap as if it would take me back to Canada if I clicked my heels together three times.

The taller man didn't say anything, he just stared down at me.

"My name's John Brown, just call me John," the blonde Aussie said, pointing to himself. He then pointed at the tall man and said, "This here's Koujo Lin. We're with SPR."

"SPR being Shibuya Psychic Research?" I asked, uncomfortable with the staring.

Again the feeling of being watched interrupted my thoughts. I quickly looked down at my arm, where I had felt the same presence from earlier.

"That'd be the one," John smiled, "are these all your bags?"

"Y-yea," I answered. "I had to leave my other bag back in Toronto. "

"Couldn't get through customs?" He asked.

"You would have been caught running," Koujo answered for me.

"Yep," I replied sheepish, "I didn't want my aunt to know that I had gone behind both her and my mother's backs."

John looked quite confused, he was probably a family-type person. I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing what else to say. All around us, people were reuniting with people, and us three strangers were meeting for the first time. It was a bit awkward to say the very least.

"You can call me Aleria by the way, hearing Miss Voguel makes me feel old," I say laughing.

Koujo simply stared at me, as did John. But John at least chuckled at my comment.

"You can't be more than Mai's age Miss," he says.

"Not sure how old Mai is, but I'm twenty," I say smiling back.

With that, Koujo seemed to decide he had had enough meet and greet. He turned on his heel and started leading the way. John looked at me sheepish and nodded towards Koujo. I nodded and followed the tall, stoic man, John walking beside me in stride.

"He's not very talkative sometimes Aleria," John states, "So you came from Toronto? Never been that far North myself, let me tell you to cold for me."

"Actually, I'm from Alberta," I started, "I was in the process of moving to my mom's house in Nova Scotia."

"Cold in Alberta?" He asked.

"During Winter? Yes, it can get pretty cold... During fall and spring it can also be cold but summer's usually unbearably hot... You probably wouldn't think it was so hot though," I answered laughing.

"Probably not," he replied laughing as well.

We then followed Koujo in relative silence. John every now and again, would ask me a question, that I would reply to and then go back to looking around the airport. It was certainly something, I decided. Then again, most national airports were, after all Edmonton's boasted three hotels on the airport's land as well as several restaurants within. This airport was boasting a lot more restaurants, and things to catch tourist eyes. I had to remind myself that I was not in Japan for fun a few times before I got in stride with Koujo.

He was quite taller than me, I realized after awhile. I'm more than used to people being taller than me, but Koujo looked like he was taller than my dad's 6'2" frame of mostly muscle. He was obviously either a quiet man, or one that held a lot of secrets. The air around him felt a little cold too, I realized, shuffling my bag up. The man was a puzzle, it seemed, and I could never resist a challenging puzzle. My track record with Professor Layton games aside, of course.

We then reached what must have been Lin's car, because he pulled out a key fob and pushed a button, making the car's headlights come to sudden life. It was left hand drive, I had forgotten that most of the world drove on the left side, unlike Canada and America. I nervously looked at the car, and then John, who smiled at my reluctance.

"If you're nervous, it's best to sit in the front," he said.

Koujo then opened the boot of the car.

"You should put your backpack in here, please," he stated and then hopped into the driver's seat.

I quickly did what the man asked, and closed the boot. John had already gone into the backseat of the car, and motioned for me to take shotgun. Sitting in the front seat, I hurriedly buckled up my seat belt. I put my purse at my feet and hoped that I wouldn't die of a heart attack before we got to the office. Koujo gave me a scratching look, before starting the car and pulling out of the airport's parking lot.

The drive to SPR was notable if only how many times I had been frightened by being on the 'wrong' side of the road. Which was nearly every time we went passed another car. John laughed at me, and kept trying to reassure me that nothing bad was going to happen, and that Koujo was a very good driver. His words and apparent amusement at my plight didn't phase me, I was still scared out of my mind. I had thought the school was scary, no, driving on the other side of the road was scary.

Stopping outside of a multi story cafe, I was pleased to note that I wouldn't have to get in the car again. I could see the hotel I had booked a room in from here as well, so I could walk there to spend the duration of my stay. If SPR didn't take on my case, I would just have to wait until I could get on the next plane to Nova Scotia, or back to Toronto. I hoped for Lee's sake that this wouldn't be the case, and that they would help me.

I stepped out of the metal deathtrap that had transported the three of us to the office and cafe. Koujo opened the boot of the car, and I quickly grabbed my backpack. No way in hell was I letting this go back into the car. Hearing a deep chuckle I looked up, John's back was to me hurrying up the stairs outside the cafe to the second floor. Looking for the source of the laughter I could only see Koujo, who was starring at me.

"Yes?" I asked, looking embarrassed.

He didn't answer, he only preceded to follow John up the stairs and into the upper floor office. I couldn't help but notice that the man had had a glint of amusement in his eyes. He must think I'm hilarious, running away from my home country and off to Japan because a ghost told me to. I frowned, before following him, sealing my fate to the embarrassment that I was no doubt to receive once I entered the office. I steeled myself before opening the door.

"Welcome to SPR! How can we help you?" came a chipper female voice.

I blinked at the young woman in front of me, she couldn't be more than sixteen. Beside her was John, smiling sheepishly. A door shut suddenly, looking towards it, I took a guess that Koujo had gone that way. Another door opened and out stepped a young handsome man, who was probably only a year older than the girl in front of me. His eyes were quite cold, I noted, and he was frowning. He looked like someone that had seen a tremendous amount of pain in such a short life, and my heart went out to him, until he opened his mouth and spoke in perfect English.

"Are you coming in? Or am I just paying to heat the outside?"

Realizing that I had been standing there with the door open like a dolt, I hurried inside and shut the door behind me. The girl smiled at me, probably knowing the man had said something rude, but not knowing what, and I grimaced back. This is making me uncomfortable, I decided. John, obviously the one keeping the peace here, held his hands up and smiled at the man.

"Sorry," I said, quickly.

 _How Canadian of me_ , I thought sarcastically.

"Now now Naru," he said in English, "that isn't any way to treat a client," he then turned to the girl and spoke, "Mai, could you make us some tea please?"

The girl nodded and walked off, only looking slightly confused.

"A client?" I asked, looking at the man named Naru.

 _That has got to be a nickname for something_ , I decided.

He shrugged, "Do you speak any Japanese? Most of the people working here don't speak very much English."

"I speak a smattering of it," I admitted, putting my backpack on the ground and pulling out my uncle's translator, I then added, "I have a translator though, so it shouldn't be a huge problem. I noticed you avoided my question," I finished prompting him.

It was then that Mai returned with the tea, she handed me a cup first, before giving one to Naru and then John. I looked down at the tea, unsure of myself. Mai gestured for me to take a seat. I took one, and Naru took the other across from me, pulling a notebook and a pen out while looking at me. I put my translator on my lap and started typing what I wanted to say.

It worked a little oddly, I had to type out what I was going to say and then pick a language from a long list to find what the literal translation was. It wasn't exactly a good way to get a message across, but hopefully Naru, Koujo or John would be able to help Mai and me understand anything that sounded odd. I hit ENTER and waited for the explanation of why I had come all the way from Canada here loaded. Little questions and answers could be added onto the list and I could scroll up to the explanation at anytime.

"Did you want me to start explaining what brought me here?" I asked once the translator finished loading the explanation.

It was then that Mai decided to sit next to me.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing at the translator.

I quickly typed out my answer, before speaking, "It's a really old military translator. While I can understand most spoken Japanese, I can't speak it very well. This will help me to explain the situation to you and your group."

She nodded in understanding, though this was probably a farce, she still looked mildly confused. I sighed and waited for Naru to give me the go ahead. The door to the office opened and Mai stood up, startling me with her sudden excitement.

"Monk!" she said running to meet whoever had opened the door.

"Oh hey Mai," a man's voice answered.

I turned my head, looking to the office door. There was a tall fellow wearing a green coat standing there, hugging Mai smiling. He had shoulder length hair tied at the back. He must have felt me starring, because he looked up at me.

"Who's this? The person Lin called me about?"

Naru sighed, "Yes, now if you could please take a seat Takigawa."

"Yea, yea," he says taking the seat Mai was just in, "So, what's your name?"

I blinked owlishly at him, he was to close, frowning slightly I answered him, "Aleria Voguel, but just call me Aleria."

The door opened again, this time bringing two women with it.

"Sorry I'm late," one of them sighed, "I picked up Masako from her school."

"Ayako," Mai said smiling, "and Masako, welcome. Sit down wherever."

The taller, red haired woman sat down next to Takigawa. The younger girl, who I got a good look at once she sat across from Ayako, beside Naru, was staring at me with something akin to the emotion fear. I silently looked at her, and she stared at me. She was probably as old as Mai, and wearing a floral patterned kimono. She looked kind of like a doll, which was in and of itself a little creepy to me.

"Yes?" I asked.

"You're being followed by a little girl in a red dress," she said simply, "She is not what she seems to be."

Everyone in the room seemed to tense up at this. I blinked at her, wondering if this was a good or bad thing.

"I think," I start with a pause, "that's why I'm here."

It was then that Koujo came back into the room, laptop in hand. He sat on the only available seat next to Naru and looked at me, as if trying to calculate my intentions.

"So," Naru starts, "You said you came from Canada, because a spirit told you to. Was it the little girl?"

I blinked, shaking my head and breaking the staring contest I had been having with Koujo.

"Uh no… The person that told me to come here was Sayaka Ooue. I think she disappeared five years ago into the school.."

"Please continue with everything you know, and what has happened to you and your friend," Naru said, waiving at me.

I scrolled up to the explanation I had already typed out. I looked at the first words, took a deep breath and started explaining.

* * *

-TheScorekeeper


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 _ **The Bad News And The Somewhat Good News?**_

The explanation had taken me longer than had expected it would. Every now and again, the girl named Mai would ask me an almost random question. If it didn't pertain to what I was trying to explain to the young man named Naru, he would give Mai a glare that was clearly telling her to shut up. Koujo seemed to simply be busy with typing away everything that I was saying, and suffering the young girl with as much grace as he could.

"So," I sigh once I've answered all Mai's questions and explained the situation, "I would like to go and help the spirits there… And rescue my friend Lee."

"What I don't understand," a man named Honsho Takigawa started, "is why you even tried this in the first place."

I looked over at him sadly, "human stupidity, I honestly thought that it was just a silly charm that I could look back at and smile… To remember all the good times we had."

"I think we should help her!" Mai piped up.

I smiled at the young girl, she was obviously someone that had a big heart. The other people in the room looked at Mai like she had grown a second head, and I honestly couldn't blame them for it. I myself, was wondering if this kind girl had hit herself on the head. A big heart, and stupidity tended to go hand in hand… She'd probably be a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff if this was Harry Potter.

I pulled out The Lord of the Rings, and removed Lee's paper scrap.

"This was Lee's, Sayaka burned mine after taking me out of the school," I explained to the slightly confused look Naru was giving the piece of paper, "I think I need to get this to Lee immediately, but the charm only works when you have more than one person…"

Ayako took that chance to speak up, "I don't think this is a good idea, sounds too dangerous to me."

John and Honsho were looking at me sadly, it seemed that while they wouldn't voice it; they had their doubts that this was a good idea.

"I've already been there and back," I said, "and Sayaka said I'd be able to travel in-between the nexuses there now that I've crossed from there to the real world."

"Even so," Naru spoke up, before pausing as if to soften the blow, "getting out once is usually the easy part. The 'host' of the school, as she referred to herself, probably won't make that same mistake again. Going back would probably be suicide."

"I still want to try," I said looking the younger man dead in the eyes, "Even though we had a fight, I know Lee would do the same for me. Sayaka told me not to hope to hard, but I can't help it."

I could feel the familiar burn of tears. I didn't want to cry, I really didn't. I blinked rapidly, removing the offending water from blurring my vision. I knew then that they wouldn't help me. Mai didn't look convinced, actually, she was starring at Masako, as if waiting for the living doll to say something. Masako looked at Mai, then back to me before sighing.

"It wouldn't be a good idea, but this spirit needs to be stopped," she said flatly, playing the fence, "I… Feel that the girl is missing something that we can return to her and end the curse… But it's little more than a Fool's Errand to try, she's been this way for so long."

"Since the seventies, at least," I piped in.

"What?" Naru asked.

"I did a little research on the side," I answered, "The school itself once existed, but it was closed down after the kidnappings of four children and the murders of three of those. The headmaster's son was charged with the crimes, the headmaster committed suicide, and the school was torn down not long after," I finished.

Lin finally spoke, "That would mean that the spirit in question is very strong… To be able to pull living people into a place that no longer exists means that it has the strength to move time and space… And if there are 'nexuses' as you've said, then there's even more trouble there," he paused for thought, turning to Naru, "Every life it takes gives it more power… The questions are: How many has it killed? How did this get into the open? How do we make it cross over?"

"I might be able to answer," I reply, raising a hand, "A lot, judging by how many dead people Lee and I saw. Naho Saenoki's blog… Annnnd, I'm not to sure about that last one, appeasing her?"

With that, Naru shut his notebook with a firm snap.

"We will convene privately and call you if we decide to take this case," he said standing up suddenly.

"But-" I started, worried once more about Lee.

He continued as if he hadn't heard me to the door he had come though, slamming it once he entered what was probably his office. I looked over to John who simply shook his head. Clearly, that was Naru's 'unique' way of saying the conversation was closed. I sighed softly, and shut my uncle's translator, I knew a lost cause when I saw , who had been the first and only to offer help looked at me sadly.

"Where are you staying?" she asked.

"Not far from here, I booked a room," I answered, shrugging my backpack on, "should I let myself out?"

John stood, "I'll walk you there, be back in a moment guys."

And with that, I followed John out the door. The walk to the hotel didn't take very long, and John and I had a simple conversation in English, mostly about what he did. I was surprised to find out that he was my age, and that he was a Catholic Priest. Apparently, he had been ordained by the Vatican earlier than most because of his ability to excursive spirits.

We had a short talk about the other people; Ayako was a Self-Styled Shinto Priestess and doctor. Honsho was a monk, as Mai had called him, but he was taking a break from the usual traditions to be a Bassist in a semi-popular band. Masako was a rather famous medium, and he was surprised that I hadn't known her right away, but then again she was famous in Japan, not Canada. Koujo's role in all of this was a little mysterious, apparently the man was very private, but the group had learned recently that he was an onmyji and controlled five familiars called shiki.

This all kind of went over my head, but I nodded politely and was happy for any distraction away from my worries. I knew John was just trying to distract me from thinking about the fate of my best friend being very well in the balance. Seeing as I didn't know what else to do until they either decided to help me, or veto me. I appreciated the effort, and followed along as best as I spoke about the different cases the team had been on, the latest one was bone-chilling; a trip to a mansion that had been renovated on a yearly bases where people kept dying. I'm betting that didn't even scratch the surface of the details, but I have a feeling I wouldn't be able to sleep with the missing details. He did tell me that the mansion had recently burned to the ground, so there was no problem of some other poor soul getting lost and killed in its halls.

 _Creepy…_ I thought to myself.

That did make the team rather brave, they, however would still need to tell me weather or not they would help me. It didn't take long to get to the hotel and wave John away. I walked up to the front desk, knowing that I probably looked suspicious with only my two bags. All the other people that I had seen were carrying proper suitcases. The man at the desk still smiled politely at me.

"Do you have a reservation with us Miss?" he asked, in a heavily accented English.

"Yes, under Miss. Voguel," I answered, pulling my passport out of my purse.

He checked over the documentation before handing it back and fiddling with a computer for a few moments, nodding to himself.

"Ah, yes," he said, looking at me and smiling again, "I have you in room four on the fourth floor."

 _Isn't that some sort of bad luck?_ I ask myself superstitiously.

The number four in Japanese is shi, which is also the word for death; meaning it sounds the same. Which is why in some hospitals and hotels, you won't find the room -sometimes, even the floor itself- four. It's also the reason you won't see room forty-three in a maternity ward… It can literally mean in their language Still Birth. Getting room four on floor four is kind of ominous. I look at the kind man who is holding a key-card out for me to take.

"Do you need any help with your bags, Miss?" he asks sweetly.

 _No,_ I think to myself, _what I really need is a different room, please_.

I take the key-card and smile, "Uh, no thanks."

 _Stop being a pansy and go Aleria_ , I berate myself.

And with that, I leave for the elevator. I kind of wish I had kept the Catholic Priest with me. The elevator is just a treat, what with its forever mirror. As soon as the elevator doors close me off from the front of the hotel, I curl myself into a little ball and try to avoid looking at the mirrors. I really hate mirrors that go on forever, they make me feel as if I'm being watched by something on the other side of them… And if anything in the past forty-eight hours has told me anything, it's that something is watching, and closely. The sound of a girl laughing is not lost on me, but I'm hoping it's only my own worked up imagination, doing its best to scare me. The elevator doors open with a soft ping so I stand up and walk calmly down the hall of the fourth floor. When I get to the fourth room, I look at the key-card and foolishly hope that it'll glitch out on me. No such luck, the door opens for me. I sigh and walk myself in, locking the door behind me.

The first thing I do after a long shower, is fall onto the bed and take a quick nap. I know napping probably isn't good for jet-lag, but I'm at the end of my emotional rope, and need a couple minutes of sleep to recharge the batteries. The next thing I do is take out my laptop and log into my bank account. I quickly transfer a thousand dollars to TJ, that way I've paid him back and I don't have to worry about not giving him back every penny. He'll be notified in three days as the bank likes to keep large sums of money that's being transferred for a few days. Never found out why banks do that, but I don't really care if I'm honest with myself in the slightest.

The last thing I do is play around with my phone. I meddle with my settings, turning off the tracking features and deleting apps that need to know my location to work. I also take the time to set the 'Do Not Disturb' over anything that my mother and aunt can use to try to either text or call me. Last thing I need is for either one of them to be calling me off the hook in Japan. The bill would be a nightmare in and of itself. I'm glad I gave Mai my contact information. If their answer was 'no' they could call, and if it was a 'yes' then they could still call me. Either way it worked.

The theme song from Hellsing, startled me. I looked down at my cell phone in disbelief. SPR was calling me. I give my phone a look of confusion before picking it up.

"Hello?" I ask.

"Miss. Voguel?" Answers the voice of Naru.

"Yes, this is Naru, right?"

"Yes… I realize that you've just gotten to your room and are probably very tired, but we've reached a decision. If you would kindly come back to SPR, we've decided to help you."

I pull the phone away from me, in almost disbelief.

"Hello?" I hear from the phone.

"I'll… I'll be right there," I reply, "you might want to tell whoever is coming to pack a bag…"

"…Got it."

And with that, he hangs up.

 _Well_ , I think, _that didn't take very long._

Almost makes me both happy and upset. I just hope they know what they're getting into...

… Because I certainly don't…

* * *

-TheScorekeeper


	6. A Note to my Readers

Hello,

This is TheScorekeeper.

I am just writing this note to let you all know why the year long hiatus happened on all my stories without notice. The original author StillCaresAboutNearding, or Alice as a few of you knew her unfortunately scummed to a life of depression, and took her own life December 16th, 2015. It has been very difficult to even look at these stories since then.

That being said, I am now working on new chapters for all my stories.

They may be a couple weeks in the works as I reclaim myself to finishing what Alice started.

For her and for myself.

The only thing I can say about Alice is this: She would not want anyone to have to make the choice she made. I'm sure that at the time, it seemed like the only way to continue on, but I will tell you that it is not.

If ANY of my readers out there are contemplating taking your own life, please, I'm begging you not to.

Just keep telling yourself, "One more day."

Promise yourself One more day.

And continue that promise everyday until you can spit in the face of your adversities.

There are people that love you.

There are people that care about you.

 **I LOVE YOU. I CARE ABOUT YOU.**

I don't even know you and I love you.

If you need someone to talk to, send me a message. _**I will respond**_.

Even in this darkness, there is light and hope _**somewhere.**_

 _ **Cling to it.**_

Until the next chapter...

TheScorekeeper


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